Music store thriving Music store thriving (June 25, 2004)

Expansion pays off for West Valley

By Julie O'Shea

While many Mountain View businesses are scaling back or shutting down, West Valley Music, a family-oriented, independently-owned store tucked inside the Grant Road shopping center, is not only thriving, it has expanded.

Owner Diana Tucker said it's not that she hasn't felt the pinch of the lagging economy. However, when it comes to music, folks around here don't want to shelve their hobbies. Plus, Tucker added, she doesn't have to compete with big-box music stores, which haven't managed to find their way to Mountain View.

"The fortunate thing for us is overhead costs," Tucker said. "The huge stores can't afford to be here yet. They need a huge amount of space, and we are very compact.

"This type of business is not a franchise," Tucker explained about the shop she has owned for the last five years. "We specialize. Everyone I hire here has to play something."

West Valley, which opened in 1989 and specializes in band and orchestra instruments, spent more than a decade occupying a small retail spot in the busy shopping center. Two years ago, Tucker, tired of tripping over instruments and sheet music, decided her bustling business needed room to grow.

When the neighboring owners of a baseball card store moved out, Tucker, a San Jose resident and longtime flute player, saw her chance. Taking over the adjoining unit, Tucker tore down the wall separating the two shops and installed six air-conditioned, soundproof studios.

"Lessons are just such an integral part of the business," Tucker said.

However, what really brings her business down, Tucker confessed, is when schools hit a lag in funding.

"We really suffer when they suffer. The kids play less music, we feel that," Tucker said.

But since the studios opened, business has been booming, Tucker said. The studios have attracted dozens of students, both young and old, from around the area. Tucker, who rents out the studios to 15 music teachers, said enrollment sits somewhere between 125 to 150 students.

"I've taught in a lot of places, and I love teaching here," said Mark Sowlakis, who used to work at the Community School of Music and Art (CSMA) and now gives clarinet and saxophone lessons at West Valley. The studios, Sowlakis said, are "quiet," "climate controlled" and "very professional."

West Valley's original owner, Dennis Heaney, operated his business in Mountain View for, among other reasons, its proximity to CSMA, said Sowlakis, who is a longtime friend of Heaney. Tucker agreed, saying that turning youngsters onto music was extremely important to Heaney, who has since retired to Nevada.

Music is "a great way of expressing myself," said Laura Passarelli, 13, who has been taking flute lessons at West Valley since the sixth grade. She will be entering Mountain View High School this fall.

Passarelli said a core group of her friends all take flute lessons from the same teacher at West Valley, and she feels a real sense of community there.

E-mail Julie O'Shea at joshea@mv-voice.com

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